Weight Loss – Breast Cancer & Heart Disease: Exploding 3 Common Myths
Myths about women’s health abound in the information age, especially about weight loss, breast cancer and heart disease. Part of the confusion is that these women’s health concerns are fairly static, but the advice always seems to be changing.
Myths have a nasty habit of spreading faster than authentic research findings. Let me clarify: I’m talking about myths as untruthful information here, not myths as delightful stories we cozy up to read on a rainy day. Most of the time, myths spread because they reinforce what we want to believe.
This is doubly true in the mommy blogging community, which fades in and out between journalism and personal opinion. I recently scanned through my favorite women’s blogs and was saddened to see some persistent myths crop up for three of the top health concerns for women: heart disease, breast cancer and staying in shape. Check out these myths, which are followed by related scientific findings.
MYTH 1: Heart disease is a man’s disease.
Most women do not realize that heart disease is the most serious health concern for women. The truth will get your heart racing: one in two women die from cardiovascular disease. A large part of this trend is due to the lack of early detection of women’s high cholesterol or artery health.
The good news is that a new survey method is available for women’s coronary health concerns. Called the Reynolds Risk Score, this diagnostic tool more accurately predicts a woman’s risk of heart attack and stroke.
MYTH 2: Exercise is the fastest way to lose weight.
This myth about weight loss is more of a half-truth. The fact is, walking or jogging for a mile burns about 100 calories. But, guess what? Sitting in a comfortable chair burns about 60 calories. Moderate exercise is only moderately good for losing weight. To really get results, moderate exercise should be complemented with a healthy diet.
Actually, it’s best to think about exercise as a way of toning what you’ve got, rather than as a way to acheive weight loss. In a related study, researchers at the University of Connecticut have recently discovered how weight training is great for women. Long-term weight training does more than tone; it’s good for bone and metabolic health. Healthy bones means less osteoporosis later in life. And by raising metabolic levels, tissue reduction in old age is greatly reduced.
MYTH 3: Birth control pills increase the risk of breast cancer.
This pervasive myth has been around for over a decade. I even saw someone repeat it in a blog comment just last week. Truthfully, many studies have published results showing no link between “the pill” and breast cancer. Also, birth control pills actually reduce the risk of ovarian and uterine cancers.
An exciting related finding is that eating mushrooms can reduce the risk of breast cancer. Mushrooms? Yes, it’s true. Mushrooms interfere with the production of an enzyme that makes too much of the hormone estrogen. Estrogen is exactly what feeds many breast cancers. By eating 100 grams of mushrooms a day, whether they are white buttons or delicious shitakes, estrogen production is reduced to almost half.
So, despite the wealth of information on the Internet, it’s important to realize that myths about women’s health abound. A few Internet authority sites have emerged that sort through the dizzying array of new findings about women’s health issues. Sites such as [http://www.4women.gov] and http://www.healthywomen.org are excellent resources to find out about the most common health issues for women.
In general, always make it a practice to notice conflicting sources of information. Sometimes both are right, but are emphasizing different points. By keeping a critical perspective when visiting web forums and discussion boards, you can find excellent advice from the Internet’s storehouse.
Don’t take my word for it: research women’s health concerns by relying on authority sites and government pages. And, of course, always consult your doctor.
Epigenetics – An Individualized, Future Approach to Cancer Treatment
Trivial findings are immense in the scientific community, especially in the field of oncology. Much emphasis is aimed at building upon previous laboratory discoveries; let's use the treatment of cancer as a broad example. As many of you know, it is now common to combine independently discovered chemotherapy treatments, with or without radiation and/or surgical intervention. The heart of cancer breakthroughs have stemmed from this methodical combination. In recent news, a new and stirring foundation for future therapeutic combinations has surfaced.
The discovery can be attributed to vigilant scrutiny of biological processes within the tumor cell. The review, in the March issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, focuses on a specialty known as epigenetics. Epigenetics is associated with inheritable disparity in gene expression while retaining the same base sequence of DNA. This essentially allows the cells, while stably maintaining the same DNA sequence, to assume different characteristics. Epigenetics is most commonly associated with x-chromosome inactivation in females, gene silencing, and post-transcriptional modification of amino acids.
Tumor cells are identifiable by numerous intracellular processes. For relevance and simplicity, I will only briefly discuss DNA methylation. Epigenetic processes can be marked by this methylation, which is vital to proper cellular function. Upon observing a metastatic tumor cell, one would find an increasing degree of hypomethylation as the tumor became more invasive. The actual comparison of DNA methylation (normal cells) and hypomethylation (tumor cells) was originally observed in 1983 during the research of colon cancer. Dr. Manel Esteller, who authored the more recent review, explained that the tumor cells were in a DNA methylation paradox depending on the location of the nucleic acid in question. The varying locations of DNA methylation directly contribute to the disturbance of chromosomes, or mutations, and inactivation of tumor suppressor genes, hence the abnormal behavior of tumor cells. How can this be related to future treatment options though?
Methylation can actually predict one's response to therapeutic treatment via protein analyzation. The targeted protein is MGMT, also known as O6-Methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase, which is known to be significant in DNA repair. Observing MGMT for its degree of methylation allows the scientist a unique look at their prognosis with respect to certain DNA damaging drugs. For example: if MGMT is found to be hypermethylated, one can deduce the benefit of introducing DNA damaging drugs because the tumor cell will not be able to repair the DNA, leading to its death.
In conclusion, epigenetic markers can provide great insight into the potential of certain chemotherapeutic treatments: stepping away from mere protocol steps and into more individualized medicine. After all, it is the building upon minute discoveries and postulated treatments that will lead to the next breakthrough in cancer treatment.
N Eng J Med. 2008;358:1148-1159.
Women’s #1 Killer: Heart Disease or Cancer?
The #1 killer of women in the United States is HEART DISEASE, not cancer as many people think. In 2006 there were 332,000 deaths in the U.S. that were associated with heart disease, according to the records of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).
The First Lady, Laura Bush, has taken action to help inform people of the symptoms of a heart attack and gives advice on how to prevent it. She joined forces with the NHLBI and is very active in helping women prevent heart attacks. The good news is that the numbers are decreasing - it was one out of three women that died of a heart attack in 2003 and in 2004 it declined to one out of four - a decrease of 17,000 deaths. However, we still need to continue to make people aware of the symptoms of heart attacks and give them advice on how to prevent it. "The really good news is that heart disease CAN BE PREVENTED and there are very easy steps for all of us to take to change our lifestyles and prevent heart disease," says Mrs. Bush in the Spring issue of Heart-Healthy Living magazine. She believes that a balanced diet, and her "early-to-bed-early-to-rise" regime keeps stress levels under control, a crucial part of helping prevent heart disease.
Here are the symptoms associated with heart attacks which were recorded in the Heart-Healthy Living Magazine, Spring 2007 issue:
~Pressure, pain or discomfort in the center of the chest that comes and goes
~Shortness of breath
~Unusual fatigue
~Pain in the upper body, including back, neck, arms, jaws and stomach
~Nausea, cold sweats, dizziness
An important thing to do when preventing a heart attack is to be aware not only of the symptoms but also of the risk factors. The more risk factors you have, the greater the risk of heart disease. Elizabeth Nabel, M.D., in the Heart-Healthy Magazine, says that "One risk factor can increase your chances of heart disease twofold. Having two risk factors increases it four-fold and three, tenfold." Risk factors include smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, lack of physical activity, sedentary lifestyle, and family history of heart disease.
So, be aware of the risks that can cause heart attacks and the symptoms that you have if you do have one. Prevent heart attacks by
* eating healthy
* exercising regularly
* not smoking
* keeping your cholesterol down
* keeping stress down as much as possible - practice meditation, yoga, etc. Anything that will help lower your stress level.
There are definitely ways to help prevent having heart disease. Don't just accept that since you have a family history of heart disease you can't do anything about it. Start to lower the risk factors in your life by living a healthier lifestyle - it is that simple. Simply adapt good eating habits, incorporate at least 30 minutes of excercise into your daily routine, use products that are not filled with toxins, adapt good sleep habits, and lower your stress level.
Live healthy! Lower your risk of heart attacks - women's number one killer in the U.S!
A Diet That Can Cure Cancer
Many people believe that there may be a connection between our diet and cancer, but know little more than that. It's true, there is a connection, a very big connection. A hundred years ago when cancer was almost unheard of, we were all eating food that was freshly grown or was grown in our own gardens. Today, nearly all of our food is in supermarkets and has been processed and interfered with by man.
The food we put into our body is the foundation of our health and it is well known that the nutritional quality of the food we consume is related to our state of health. Even 'Hippocrates' the father of our medicine stated in one of his oaths, "Let food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food."
People a hundred years ago were actually healthier than modern man living in western societies. A new study shows the excessive levels of cholesterol, heart disease and cancer were non existent a hundred years ago and that these health problems are a direct result of our poor diet and lack of exercise. Their average lifespan may have been lower than ours today, but that was because of diseases, infections and child mortality, problems which we have mostly eliminated.
How is all this related to cancer?
Cancer is simply a disease of the immune system, or more correctly, a disease of a weak immune system. The immune system becomes weakened through the way we live, especially with the wrong foods that we eat, it will then allow cancer cells to become established. The obvious (and safest) way to become cancer free once it's established is to boost the immune system, the only way to accomplish this is to eat the food that has been designed for humans. That is, live as Mother Nature has intended us to live.
When man processes food, often to help it sell, he knows that we all have a craving for 3 things, fat, salt and refined sugar. These 3 items are found in nearly all processed food and are all known contributors to cancer. Also, all processed foods are 'old' food (nutritionally dead food) compared to fresh produce.
It's only very recently that we have seen research into food and how it is related to cancer. Phytonutrients, also called phytochemicals have been discovered in many fruit and vegetables, and these compounds have been found to have an amazing ability to not only stop cancer but also to fight cancer once it is established.
Here are few examples:
- Tomatoes contain a photo nutrient called lycopene and are the compound responsible for its bright red colour and its anti-cancer potential. It has been beneficial to both prostrate and breast cancer patients.
- Cruciferous vegetables, of which broccoli is one, all contain important anti-cancer compounds and research has found overwhelming evidence to support this.
- Red grapes have a powerful photo nutrient called resveratrol which also have anti cancer properties.
- Apples have been found to inhibit the growths in colon cancer by 43%. They contain a photo nutrient which was found only in the skin of the apple.
Why haven't we been told about the cancer fighting ability of our natural food?
The answer is very simple. Food is a natural product so no one can control the price and make enormous profits. Cancer treatment drugs, on the other hand, are synthesised or artificial and can be patented so the price can then be controlled by the manufacture themselves. Conventional cancer treatments today using these drugs represent a multi billion dollar a year industry. These vast profits are fiercely protected by these industry giants.
So there IS a diet that can cure cancer and it revolves around freshly grown food, organic if possible.
The natural food for breakfast is fresh fruit and plenty of it. If you need to snack throughout the morning, eat more fruit. A healthy choice for lunch is a plate of fresh salad items and there are plenty to choose from, you should include raw onions. A couple of choices for your evening meal can be a soup using fresh vegetables or pumpkin, or maybe lightly steaming some vegetables with a baked potato.
Diets similar to this are nothing new. Dr Gerson was curing cancer patients back in the 1950s in America, with foods such as these but used in a juice form so as to flood the body with nutrients. He cured thousands of patients, many of them terminal and there are countless testimonials from his cured patients.
Lifestyle Disease – What Is It?
So what exactly are lifestyle diseases? I've heard the term mentioned so often during the past few years I decided it was time to find out once and for all.
When did lifestyle disease first begin to emerge? Before we can answer that question let's first look at which diseases fall under the lifestyle disease banner. Well how about this for a "hall of disease fame" line-up:
Cancer..Heart Disease..Alzheimers..Parkinsons..Osteoporosis..Diabetes and
Osteoarthritis. That's just for starters. It's quite a scary "cast of characters." And the scariest part is, they have been on the increase since the early 1940's.
Why?
Speaking with those experts who deal with disease for a living, there are a number of factors. What "floored" me was this following explanation:
"The increase in the incidence of the above-mentioned diseases would be associated with supposed improvements in people's lives."
What! An improvement in people's lives. You mean people's lives have got better yet they've become more susceptible to some of the most devastating diseases known to man.
How?
How could lifestyles possibly bring about the onset of cancer, heart disease, obesity, diabetes etc. Well, one of the main culprits has been the deterioration in nutritious levels of food. More high fat and high sugar foods; food preservation techniques; and improved farming methods have all contributed in one way or another to the lack of proper levels of nutrition in food. Add to this low cost food, more processed foods to satisfy commercial needs rather than seasonal fresh foods, less physical exercise, increased leisure time, and continued improvements in modes of transport and it begins to take it's toll.
Up until the late 19th. and early 20th. centuries, communicable diseases such as pneumonia, influenza and tuberculosis accounted for between 60 to 70 per cent of human deaths in the western world. Improved medical techniques and breakthroughs gradually brought this figure down. Then, enter the new breed - what we know as degenerative disease. It's particularly deadly because it forms over time... sometimes degenerative or lifestyle diseases don't surface for years. In some cases, it can take up to half a century for someone to be diagnosed with cancer but the process would have commenced many years before.
Since the 1940's, lifestyle disease has been on the rise and by the time we reached the new millenium, it would account for over 60 percent of all deaths in western society.
So what's the bottom line? I'm not going to suggest any cures in this article but getting the proper levels of nutrition would be a good start. People appear to be dying longer and living shorter.
And what does the next 100 years hold in store for us? Let's hope a huge turn around in lifestyle disease incidence.
Asbestos Exposure and Mesothelioma Cancer
Asbestos is a naturally occurring mineral consisting of strong, flexible fibers, which can be partitioned and woven into insulation material. Mining of asbestos began late in the 19th century and the use of asbestos escalated in the 1940's. Asbestos exposure is the primary cause of mesothelioma. Tiny particles of asbestos invade the body through inhalation or ingestion and become embedded in the linings of body cavities. Asbestos limits and stricter protocols for workers handling asbestos were instituted in the 1970's, when the health risks started to become apparent.
Mesothelioma occurs when the cells of the mesothelium, a two-layer lining of the internal organs, become abnormal and attack the organ or spread to other parts of the body. There are three malignant types of mesothelioma:
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